Agriculture Commons^™

Growing South Dakota (Winter 2024), Michelle Cartney

Growing South Dakota (Publication of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences)

[Page] 3 Continuing a Leadership Journey
[Page] 5 CAFES Leadership Team Grows
[Page] 7 Award-Winning Faculty & Staff
[Page] 9 New Endowment Holders Recognized
[Page] 10 Inaugural Precision Livestock Field School Offered at SDSU Cottonwood Field Station
[Page] 11 SDSU Celebrates Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine Students [Page] 13 Clay Carlson, SDSU Meat Science Graduate Student Approaches School and Life with Winning Mindset
[Page] 15 SDSU Alumni has been selected as the Head Coach of the South Dakota State University Livestock Judging Team
[Page] 16 Livestock Units Promote Hands-On Learning & Premier Research
[Page] 20 SDSU leads NSF-backed fertilizer development …

Growing South Dakota (Fall 2023), College Of Agriculture, Food And Environmental Sciences

Growing South Dakota (Publication of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences)

[Page] 3 Back-to-Back Champions: SDSU Quarter Scale Tractor Team Repeats International Win
[Page] 6 CAFES Welcomes New Members to College Leadership Team
[Page] 9 Vikram Mistry Retires After Nearly 40-Year Career at SDSU
[Page] 12 Bill Gibbons Retires After 36 Years at SDSU
[Page] 13 Nic Uilk: Klingbeil Endowed Educator in Precision Agriculture
[Page] 15 SDSU Students Study Abroad
[Page] 19 CAFES Faculty Claim National Awards
[Page] 21 Dairy Alum Sanne de Bruijn Grabs Global Opportunities
[Page] 23 SDSU Extension Cohort Programs
[Page] 25 Summer Field Day Highlights
[Page] 29 Jackrabbits Now and Then

Growing South Dakota (Summer 2023), College Of Agriculture, Food And Environmental Sciences

Growing South Dakota (Publication of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences)

3 SDSU Little International Celebrates 100 years of Tradition
7 2023 CAFES Celebration of Faculty Excellence
11 South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station Locations and Research Initiatives
15 Every Acre Counts
16 Undergraduate Research
19 Tanner Sloan: South Dakota State Wrestler & Animal Science Student Takes Home NCAA Division I & U23 World Silver Medals
21 2023 CAFES Outstanding Seniors
23 Robert Streeter: International Advocate for Wildlife Conservation
25 Collegiate Cattlemen's Club
27 Jim and Melody Mielke: Lifelong Donors Contribute to Agriculture in More Ways than One
29 Jackrabbits Now and Then

Improving Decision Support Systems With Machine Learning: Identifying Barriers To Adoption, Skye Brugler, Maaz Gardezi, Ali Dadkhah, Donna M. Rizzo, Asim Zia, Sharon A. Clay

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Precision agriculture (PA) has been defined as a “management strategy that gathers, processes and analyzes temporal, spatial and individual data and combines it with other information to support management decisions according to estimated variability for improved resource use efficiency, productivity, quality, profitability and sustainability of agricultural production.” This definition suggests that because PA should simultaneously increase food production and reduce the environmental footprint, the barriers to adoption of PA should be explored. These barriers include: 1) the financial constraints associated with adopting DSS, 2) the hesitancy of farmers to change from their trusted advisor to a computer program often behaves …

A Deep-Learning Framework For Spray Pattern Segmentation And Estimation In Agricultural Spraying Systems, Praneel Acharya, Travis Burgers, Kim-Doang Nguyen

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

This work focuses on leveraging deep learning for agricultural applications, especially for spray pattern segmentation and spray cone angle estimation. These two characteristics are important to understanding the sprayer system such as nozzles used in agriculture. The core of this work includes three deep-learning convolution-based models. These models are trained and their performances are compared. After the best model is selected based on its performance, it is used for spray region segmentation and spray cone angle estimation. The output from the selected model provides a binary image representing the spray region. This binary image is further processed using image processing …

Perspectives Of Dairy Employees At The Beginning Of The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Survey Of Health Risks And Educational Needs, Fernanda Ferreira, Maristela Rovai, Mireille Chahine, Mario E. De Haro-Martí, John Wenz, Joseph Dalton, Noelia Silva-Del-Rio

Dairy Science and Food Science Faculty Publications: 2022 to Present

Our objective was to understand dairy employees' perceptions and educational needs at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A bilingual (English and Spanish), anonymous survey targeted at dairy employees was circulated nationwide via university and allied industry media outlets. Responses (n = 63) from 11 states were received (May–Sep. 2020). Respondents worked in herds ranging from 50 to 40,000 animals in size. Dairy managers (33%) responded mostly to the English survey (52%), whereas entry-level workers (67%) chose the Spanish format (76%). Survey results highlighted different perspectives, educational needs, and preferred sources of information between English- and Spanish-speaking dairy workers. Overall, …

Growing South Dakota (Spring 2023), College Of Agriculture, Food And Environmental Sciences

Growing South Dakota (Publication of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences)

[Page] 3 Developing Climate-Smart Beef and Bison Commodities
[Page] 5 Joseph Cassady Leads CAFES as New Dean
[Page] 7 Inaugural Class of Klingbeil Scholars
[Page] 9 Jackrabbits to Future Veterinarians
[Page] 11 Protecting South Dakota’s Grasslands
[Page] 13 Growing Youth Programs
[Page] 15 Partnerships for Positive Growth
[Page] 17 Building Highly Effective Boards
[Page] 19 SDSU Extension Podcasts
[Page] 21 Providing Good Food for All
[Page] 23 Improving Seed Varieties
[Page] 25 CAFES Endowed Positions
[Page] 29 Jackrabbits Now and Then

Session 2: The Effect Of Boom Leveling On Spray Dispersion, Travis A. Burgers, Miguel Bustamante, Juan F. Vivanco

SDSU Data Science Symposium

Self-propelled sprayers are commonly used in agriculture to disperse agrichemicals. These sprayers commonly have two boom wings with dozens of nozzles that disperse the chemicals. Automatic boom height systems reduce the variability of agricultural sprayer boom height, which is important to reduce uneven spray dispersion if the boom is not at the target height.

A computational model was created to simulate the spray dispersion under the following conditions: a) one stationary nozzle based on the measured spray pattern from one nozzle, b) one stationary model due to an angled boom, c) superposition of multiple stationary nozzles due an angled boom, …

Southeast South Dakota Experiment Farm Annual Progress Report, 2023, South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station

Agricultural Experiment Station and Research Farm Annual Reports

This is an annual report of the research program at the Southeast South Dakota Research Farm in cooperation with South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and the SDSU College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences and has special significance for those engaged in agriculture and the agriculturally related businesses in the ten county area of Southeast South Dakota. The results shown are not necessarily complete or conclusive. Interpretations given are tentative because additional data resulting from continuation of these experiments may result in conclusions different from those based on any one year.

Soil Profile Properties And Greenhouse Gas Emissions As Influenced By Long-Term Cattle Manure And Inorganic Fertilizer Applications Under Corn-Soybean-Spring Wheat Rotation In Eastern South Dakota, Anuoluwa Ojonoka Sangotayo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The application of manure and inorganic fertilizer in row crops may significantly influence soil and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Understanding the long-term influence of these management practices on soil pore characteristics, hydro-physical properties and greenhouse gas emission is essential in developing proper conservation practices. However, there is limited information on the impact of cattle manure and inorganic fertilizer application on soil hydro-physical properties, soil pore characteristics at lower depths and surface GHGs emissions. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to; (i) utilize X-ray computed tomography (XCT) technique to quantify the impact of manure and fertilizer amendments under a corn …

Phosphate2 And Pin-Likes7 Affect Symbiotic Nodule Phenotypes In Soybean, Bhawandeep Kaur

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Legumes and soil rhizobia share a symbiotic relationship, wherein rhizobia fix atmospheric dinitrogen in exchange for photosynthates from the host plant. This exchange of mutual benefits occurs in a specialized root structure called ‘nodule’. Soybean (Glycine max) nodules arise from root outer cortical cells. De novo cell differentiation of cortical cells during nodule development leads to the formation of two distinct nodule zones in the mature nodule: the central infection zone where nitrogen fixation occurs and the peripheral parenchyma zone that houses vascular bundles. Plant signaling mechanisms that dictate the development of these nodule zones are not known. To address …

Improving The Utility Of Precision Agriculture Through Machine Learning And Climate-Smart Practices, Skye Brugler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate Smart Practices are management strategies that focus on increasing soil and crop productivity, utilize site-specific strategies to increase resiliency against the effects of climate change, and mitigate these negative effects by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Decision Support Systems (DSSs) using machine learning (ML) can adjust models based on new information and help farmers make climate smart decisions within their operation. The 4R nutrient management model of right source, rate, location, and time also demonstrates a framework that may be considered climate smart by improving soil and crop productivity. However, when initially conceptualized, the 4R model did not consider …

Effect Of Foliar And Preplant Sulfur Application On Soybean Nutrient Uptake, Yield, And Seed Protein And Oil Content, Gena Ram Mahato

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, Sulfur (S) deficiency has been observed in soybean producing regions in the US and different parts of the world. The major factors behind the frequent occurrence of S deficiency are reduced atmospheric S deposition due to strict regulations on emissions from fossil fuels, large S removal from high yielding crops, less use of fertilizers containing S, and intensive cultivation practices. To test S limitations, I conducted two independent studies from 2019 to 2021 at two locations in Eastern South Dakota to determine the effect of foliar and preplant S application on soybean. The objectives of this research …

Effects Of Agricultural Chemicals On Native Plants Of The Northern Great Plains, Gabrielle Bolwerk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Agricultural chemicals are ubiquitous on the Northern Great Plains landscape and have negative impacts on non-target plant communities, even at small doses. Northern Great Plains grassland plant communities may experience herbicide drift from agricultural fields or be subject to livestock pharmaceuticals in grazing lands. My research objective was to evaluate if and how native plants are affected by agricultural chemical presence at different concentrations. In Chapter 2, I studied the effect of different concentrations of three common agricultural herbicides (2,4-D, atrazine, and trifluralin) on the germination, emergence, and growth of native plant species of the Northern Great Plains. I performed …

Enhancing Nitrogen Use Efficiency Through Ai-Powered Image Analysis And Innovative N-Rich Spot Method, Bobby Azad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study conducted in 2023 aimed to enhance nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in wheat and corn grown in South Dakota. Based on dynamic weather conditions and other factor interactions, conventional nitrogen (N) recommendations need to be improved. Soil properties information, including electrical conductivity, was used to create management zones. In each zone, three N-rich spots were established as biosensors. Drones and satellites collected imagery data, and an AI-driven approach assessed the crop response to applied N. A dynamic N application approach, integrating aerial data with historical records, was developed and evaluated. Our methodology, at a 95% confidence level, resulted in …

Would Ai Stocks Estimate Be As Surprised To Usda Stocks Reports As Private Market Analysts?, Asif Mahmud Chowdhury

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The USDA survey-based Quarterly Agriculture Stocks (QAS) reports are the primary source of information regarding the relative supply of U.S. corn, soybeans, and wheat for the last fifty years. Research has examined USDA stock reports and their relevancy to the market (e.g., Isengildina-Massa et al., 2021). In addition, private industry analysts estimate expected quarterly grain stock reports before USDA releases them. Market information firms such as Bloomberg and Reuters publish a subset of these estimates a few days before the USDA reports. Previous research has found that when industry analysts have significant differences in stock expectations compared to what the …

Fusarium Head Blight Resistance Assessment In Barley, Tasneem Fathima

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fusarium head blight (FHB), commonly called scab is the most devastating disease of wheat and barley caused by the ascomycete fungus, Fusarium graminearum. FHB affects both the quality and quantity of cereal grains affecting the supply chain of the food and feed industry and the marketability of the produce. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is among the several crop species most vulnerable to FHB infection. An estimated 25% of Spring barley grain production in the United States is used to make malted beverages such as beer. Malting barley is a relatively high-value crop with high demands regarding grain quality. FHB directly …

Soybean Management For Seed Composition: The Perspective Of U.S. Farmers, Andre F. Borja Reis, Luiz Rosso, Dan Davidson, Peter Kovacs, Larry C. Purcell, Frederick E. Below, Shaun Casteel, Hans J. Kandel, Seth Naeve, Sotirios V. Archontoulis, Ignacio A. Ciampitti

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

The soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] compositional quality is mainly provided by the seed concentration of protein and oil. These traits are critical for sustaining global use, and although there is demand for high protein soybean, no mechanism to differentiate production is in place. At the opposite end of the supply chain, farmers are remunerated on a mass basis without having any incentive regarding seed composition. This study evaluated farmers' perspectives and knowledge on soybean quality and their propensity to adopt quality improvement technologies. Farmers from the main U.S. producing regions (n = 271) were investigated with a …

Attitudes Toward The Environment: How Do The Attitudes Of Conventional, No-Till, And Organic Farmers Compare?, George A. Youngs, David L. Watt

Great Plains Sociologist

One of Che key dynamics in today's increased interest in alternative fanning is concern for the environment (Beus and Dunlap, 1990). Many advocates of alternative farming argue that conventional farming harms the environment and may even destroy the future of agriculture. The implicit, and often explicit, notion associated with this view is that conventional farmers are less concerned about the environment than are alternative farmers. The present study will test this notion by comparing the attitudes toward the environment of conventional farmers with two types of alternative farmers, organic and no-till. By definition, conventional farmers are those farmers who practice …

Deploying Live Dashboard Data Using Usda Data Apis To Inform Farmers/Producers, Indira Fuyal, Paurakh Paudel, David Zeng

SDSU Data Science Symposium

The main objective of this project is to provide the farmers/producers and small business owners with a data intensive information hub to better understand the market trends and patterns in an interactive way to help make informed decisions. This technology is part of a larger project that includes AI powered data services to provide users with decision making support for real time data solutions. Together with Natural Language Generation, there is a huge potential to deploy this technology. In this small demo of this hugely beneficial technology, we make use of the publicly available Open Data Services – ESR Data …

Southeast South Dakota Experiment Farm Annual Progress Report, 2022, Southeast South Dakota Research Farm

Agricultural Experiment Station and Research Farm Annual Reports

This is an annual report of the research program at the Southeast South Dakota Research Farm in cooperation with South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and the SDSU College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences and has special significance for those engaged in agriculture and the agriculturally related businesses in the ten county area of Southeast South Dakota. The results shown are not necessarily complete or conclusive. Interpretations given are tentative because additional data resulting from continuation of these experiments may result in conclusions different from those based on any one year.

Growing South Dakota (Fall 2021 / Winter 2022), College Of Agriculture, Food And Environmental Sciences

Growing South Dakota (Publication of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences)

[Page] 3 SDSU Launches New Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine
[Page] 7 The 6th Generation
[Page] 9 First-Gen Proud
[Page] 11 Student Success
[Page] 21 Alumni News
[Page] 27 CAFES News and Updates
[Page] 45 Jackrabbits Now and Then: A Current Student and Alumni Q&A

Vision And Radar Steering Reduces Agricultural Sprayer Operator Stress Without Compromising Steering Performance, Travis A. Burgers, Kelly J. Vanderwerff

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Self-propelled agricultural sprayer operators work an average of 15 h d^-1 in peak season, and steering is the task that causes the operator the most stress because of the large number of stimuli involved. Automatic guidance systems help reduce stress and fatigue for operators by allowing them to focus on tasks other than steering. Physiological signals like skin conductance (electrodermal activity, EDA) change with stress and can be used to identify stressful events. The objective of this study was to determine if using a commercially available vision and radar guidance system (VSN®, Raven Industries) reduces agricultural sprayer operators’ stress …

Soil Hydro-Physical Properties, Computed Tomography Measured Pore Parameters, And Soil Health Indicators As Influenced By Tillage And Crop Rotation Systems, Goutham Thotakuri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Long-term tillage and crop rotation systems are important agricultural management practices as these can have direct impact on the soil’s key properties. The objectives of this study were to (ⅰ) quantify the soil pore characteristics under long-term tillage and crop rotation using X-ray computed tomography (XCT) and to assess the relationships between XCT-measured pore parameters and soil hydro-physical properties; and (ⅱ) evaluate the impacts of long-term tillage and crop rotation on select soil health indicators. The objective (ⅰ) was carried out at Haskell Agricultural Laboratory (HAL), Concord, NE; and objective (ⅰi) was carried out at South Central Agricultural Laboratory (SCAL), …

Effect Of Essential Oils In The Control Of Fungal Diseases In Small Grains, Esneider Mahecha Bojaca

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and oats (Avena sativa L.) are important crops due to their high consumption in our daily diet worldwide. They are the main food of consumption per capita due to the high amino-acid content as well of vitamins. However, grain production is limited due to the negative impact of the diseases that cause significant yield loss. Diseases in oats, such as crown rust caused by Puccinia coronata f. sp. avenae (Pca), and in wheat such as Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by the fungus Fusarium graminearum. Foliar diseases such as tan spot incited by the fungi …

Using Deep Neural Networks To Analyze Precision Agriculture Data, Stephanie Liebl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the population of the Earth increases, there is a growing need for food to feed the inhabitants. Precision agriculture offers techniques and tools that can be used to help accommodate the growing population. One specific precision agriculture tool is remote sensing data, which can be used to image fields as an effort to better predict or understand the crops. In this thesis, deep neural networks are used to evaluate various spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions of three different satellite images to determine which best predicts corn yield. The main metrics we used to evaluate the models were R-squared (R2), …

Design Of Affordable Polyaniline - Based Wearable Sensor For Real Time Plant Growth Monitoring, Temitope Borode

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The need for precision agriculture in today and future farming cannot be overstressed. Recent agriculture is characterized by numerous challenges such as environmental stressors and resource constraints resulting in low crop yield and unsustainable agriculture practices. Understanding plant growth mechanism and growth rate under the external influence is a bedrock towards precision agriculture practices ensuring optimum yield and sustainable utilization of resources. The current study addresses this need by developing and applying an affordable and stable sensor for monitoring plant growth. The sensor was fabricated by in-situ chemical polymerization of aniline on an elastic band substrate by dip coating. The …

Curriculum Development Of Agricultural Educators In South Dakota, Mercedes Lemke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Curriculum development is an essential component of teaching. Understanding how agriculture education teachers utilize, develop, and adapt content to curriculum can benefit teachers to spend less time on curriculum development. Recognizing the way agriculture education teachers use content in curriculum implementation will allow curriculum developers to create materials that can effectively be used by teachers. This study also looked at the affects of how COVID19 pandemic affected the way teachers locate and develop curriculum. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the way agriculture education instructor’s usage of content for curriculum development, implementation decisions and the affects of the …

Study Of Root System Architectural Traits Of Oat And Response To Endophyte Inoculation And Drought Stress, Krishna Ghimire

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Oat is an important cereal crop grown worldwide. Oats have the potential to contribute to human health due to their unique nutritional attributes. Developing oat cultivars with efficient root systems able to extract heterogeneously distributed soil resources can help maintain yield under drought conditions and in nutrient poor soil. Various root traits determine the soil volume that is explored by the root system for resource acquisition. Knowledge about the genetic control of oat root traits and response to biotic and abiotic environmental factors is lacking. Identifying quantitative trait loci associated with root traits and understanding the response of roots to …

Effects Of Conservation Management Practices On Soil Health And Crop Yields In Eastern South Dakota, Alex Mclain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conservation management practice adoption on agricultural land has increased in recent years due to increasing public and private investment. The anticipated impact of increasing conservation management practice adoption are reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved soil, water, and air quality. Understanding how these conservation management practices affect agricultural producers economically is vital to properly incentivize these practices. The existing literature on how conservation management practices affect soil health and crop yields is mixed and generally has been conducted on experimental research stations. These studies may not fully account for the on-farm effects of conservation management practices. The objectives of this …